Brexit: the next step

The Economist lays out what Britain would look like as an EEA member.

This seems the most likely option to me, but has some interesting caveats: all other EEA members are part of the Schengen area (which Britain isn’t currently) and make significant contributions to the EU’s budget. We presumably would have to do the same. I hope we do. Freedom of movement between member states is one of the most beautiful parts of the EU, and an inspiring piece of supranational engineering. Friends of mine are already talking about relocating to Barcelona or Berlin to make the most of it. Maybe I should do the same.

I’m obviously bitterly disappointed at our nation’s choice to leave. Of the hate-filled and deceitful campaigning, my father said: “the liars won.” Of course, the result reveals a country riven in two, and a disenfranchised electorate looking to stick up two fingers at Westminster. And rarely does a catastrophe have a single root cause: here it was not just the misinformation fed to the public, but worsening prospects for the working class, a totally ineffectual Labour campaign for a remain vote, torrential flooding on polling day.

A commenter in the FT summed up my sadness on Friday best:

[The] younger generation has lost the right to live and work in 27 other countries. We will never know the full extent of the lost opportunities, friendships, marriages and experiences we will be denied. Freedom of movement was taken away by our parents, uncles, and grandparents in a parting blow to a generation that was already drowning in the debts of our predecessors.

I’m finding it hard to see a silver lining.